Norm Stamper

About the Author

Norm Stamper was a cop for thirty-four years, the first twenty-eight in San Diego, the last six (1994-2000) as Seattle’s police chief. He is credited as the architect of the nation’s first community policing program and has a PhD in leadership and human behavior. He is the author of Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing (Nation Books, 2005).

He served as a founding member of President Clinton’s National Advisory Council on the Violence Against Women Act, and as an advisory board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, along with numerous other boards dedicated to violence prevention, drug policy reform, and social justice. He has been called as an expert witness in approximately twenty police misconduct cases. He has written essays and opinion pieces for such publications as the New York Times, the Nation, Time Magazine, the Guardian (UK and US), Playboy, the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union Tribune, Penthouse, American Police Beat Magazine, and YES! Magazine.